Improvement in machines for blocking and stretching hats



stattet grant @aient @time i JOSEPH DE LA MAR., OE BROOKLYN, yNEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND JOHN DE VRIES EOKHOFF, OF NEW YORK CITY.

Letters Patent N o. 108,116, dated October 11, 1870; antedated September 24, 1870.

i IMPRovEMENT IN MAcHlNEsFoR B LQCKING AND sTRETclllNe HATS.

The Schedule referred toin these Letters Patent and making pnt of the same.

Be it known that I, JOSEPH DE LA MAR, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Blocking Hats; and I do hereby declare and ascertain my said invention as follows, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a vertical central section of my improved machine, exhibiting its working parts in the position to receive a hat-body to be blocked, which is shown in red outlines. l

Figure 2 is a vert-ical central section of the same, the plane of section taken at right angles to the plane taken in tig. 1, and the parts-shown in position when the body is ready blocked;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same, and the plane of section indicated by the line x a; in g. 2.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the Aseveral figures.

The nature of this invention consists in the employment of a stationary ring for supporting the' band of` the hat-body, and in the employment ot' two series of outwardly-yielding levers, with jaws, between which the tip ot' the body is clamped, and, while clamped, stretched out, to block the crown of the hat; and of the employment of two series of yielding levers, with jaws hinged near the outside edge of the banding-ring, between which, by a motion of the two vseries of levers and jaws, thcnbrim part of the hat-body is clamped, and, while clamped, is stretched out and turned over the edge of the said banding-ring, and the brim ot` the hat formed and blocked, in one continuous stretching operation, over the whole body with forming the crown of the hat.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the frame of the machine, which supports the working parts, and is made with two vertical guide-posts, B B, and a horizontal table, with a central opening, upon the edge of which I secure the metal banding-ring a. By means of having a Yilange ou this banding-ring, resting upon the table of the frame A, I secure the said ring to the said table. The top edge of this ring serves to support the body in forming the band of the hat in the usual way.

Now, in order to stretch Out the tip and brim part of the body, I employ a series of levers7 ff, and a series of levers, d (l, with jaws, f1 fl and jaws d1 (Z1,

which are hinged on their outside ends to act on theoutside of the body; and I employ a similar series of correspondingly-arranged levers, f2 f2 and d2 (l2, with similar jaws on their loose ends, to act on the inside of the body, and meet with the jaws fl f1 and d* cl.

The levers (l d and f f are hinged in the lower part of -the frame A to cross-heads G and g, whereas the levers d2 d and fifi are hinged to cross-heads attached to a vertical-sliding frame, t', which latter is guided in the posts B B, and can be raised or lowered from or to the said table. by means of a horizontal shaft, 7l., guided in bearings fixed on the posts B B, and having upon this shaft It pinions gearing in vertical rack-bars secured upon the said sliding frame fi',

so as to afford every access in placingthe hat-body in the machine. The fulcrums of these levers are arranged in a circle which is smaller than that described by the outside ends of the levers.

' Each series ot' levers is furnished with a circular spring, shown at c and c', to bring the respective series of levers home to a normal position after every operation of the same; and, to bring home to a like position the jaws of the levers, I secure at springs on the levers f f and d d, pressing against the hack ot' the said jaws di d* and fl fl.

The jaws of the levers d2 d I provide with a cireumferential spring, and the 4jaws on the levers fzf2 are brought home by their own weight.

The cross-head g is attached to a'vertical shaft, b, which can 4be raised or lowered and secured, in order v4to set the levers f f and jaws f l f1 .to the desired distance from the edge ofthe ring a, so as to adjust the machine to make the desired height of crown oi the. hat to be blocked.

The cross-head to which the levers f2 f2 are hinged is secured to a vertical sliding shaft, c, which is guided in the center of the vertical-sliding frame t', and is connected with a lever, on, having its fnlcrum, at 41X, in the saidl frame t,'whereby the said shaft can be moved up or down.

The cross-head G is secured with the stationary cross-bar b', and the cross-head to which the levers d d2 are hinged is secured with the sliding frame l The jaws di l1 are so hinged with the levers d d that their fulcrums are nearly in the same plane, and are close to the upper edge of the ring a, when the levers are in their contract-ed position.

k is a ratchet-wheel, fixed on the shaft h, to work with a pawl fixed or hinged on the respective post B,

for theA purpose oi' stationing the shaft hand siiding frame i whenever desired.

When a body is to be blocked, it is placed, with its tip downward, on the ring a., as shown in fig. 1. The pawl, engaging the ratchet 7a, is disengaged, and the sliding frame 'i' is made to descend, so lthat the jaws on the levers di di press and clamp the brim part t ot' the body upon the jaws'l d1 all. The sliding frame is now secured again by placing the said pawl in the ratchet It. Pressure is now applied to the levers f2 f2 and their jaws by the lever in, so as to clamp the tip of the body upon the jaws f1 f-l, and, by increased pressure of the lever, the loose ends of the levers f j' and f 2 f2 are forced to expand on account of their ontward inclined position, thereby forcing the tip of the body to stretch out', which pressure is continued until the crown of the hat is obtained, :ts shown in fig. 2. I now disengage again the said pawl from the ratchet k, and apply power with the shaft h, vto force the sliding frame down lower, so that the jnws all d are forced to turn down, whereby the brim of the body is turned over the edge of the ring a, and by still more pressure the levers d Z and Il dz :1re forced outward to 1 a. larger circumference, :tud forcing the respective jaws to stretch the brim out, as shown in iig. 2, whereby the body is completely stretched and blocked.

The frame i' is now again raised, and the blocked hat-body removed, zuid the,v said jews and levers nre allowed to tll back to their original position, reztdy to receive another body to be blocked. Y

I do not claim, broadly, a ring 01' circular edge, on which the band of' the body is broken, and which serves, in general, for supporting the' band of the body, while'the body is being blocked, and its bend formed, in hat-blocking machines; but

What I do claim :ts my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv 1. The within-described arrangement of levers el d2, and their connections, adapted for stretching :t hat,- body by clamping :md forcing outward, substantially as and for the purposesherein set forth.

2. The within-described arrangement of levers d d2 I and ff2 in two sets, adapted, the one for 'clamping and stretching the brim, and the other for clamping and,

stretching the tip of :t hat-body, as herein-specified.

3. rlhe hinged jews, arranged, :is represented, on the outer ends of the clamping and stretching-levers, for the purposes herein specified.

4, The within-described arrangement. of the two sets of clamping and stretchingdevers (l d f f '2, with :t fixed band-ring, for the purposes herein set forth. JOSEPH-DE LA MAR.

Witnesses r STEPHEN Gr. CLARKE, J. J. GREENQUQH. 

